Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite vs Inkling Small
Which is better for the money: Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite by Google or Inkling Small by Thinking Machines? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Inkling Small scores 10.1 points higher (25.7 vs 15.6) but costs 1.5× as much to run the benchmark ($241 vs $156; both mid-range class). Pick Inkling Small when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite.
| Metric | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | Inkling Small | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 15.6 | 25.7 | +64.7% Inkling Small is 64.7% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $155.87 | $240.85 | +54.5% Inkling Small is 54.5% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 6.06s | 12.68s | +109.2% Inkling Small is 109.2% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.25 / $1.50 | $0.30 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Speech, Video | Text, Image, Speech |
Inkling Small vs Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: 64.7% more intelligence, 54.5% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 109.2% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Max) scores 38.10 for $122.
- Inkling Small is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
Gemini 3.1 Flash-LiteInkling SmallToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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